Needed
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: To be frank, their meeting may have been purely by chance. But that didn't explain why their crews seemed to match each other's personalities, while the captains'... well... clashed quite a bit. The only explanation either of them could think up, was that somewhere far away, a certain goddess was having loads of fun screwing around with them. pairings inside


**Ummm... should I start a new one when I have many others that need finished? No. Am I doing just that? YES.**

**Okay well, I kind of wanted everyone on the ****_Dutchman_**** to have a happy ending. It was probably a coincidence that they were in the same area as each other, but... otherwise they wouldn't have met at all, right?**

**And I know, I drew a parallel to everyone on the ****_Dutchman_**** and this crew, but that's kind of what I wanted to do. They're all similar to each other, but that doesn't mean they really are 'perfect' for each other. Trust me, the last thing I want to do is fill my fictional crew with a bunch of God-awful Mary Sues...**

**Maccus: Ain't there a wench what named Mary on tha' crew?**

**Me: *facepalm* Um, I never said I wasn't an idiot, but far as I know, her last name ain't 'Sue'. Shut up, shark boy, or I'll have you in a soup...**

**Anyway. *ahem* I love the relationship between Jimmy and Sage LOL. I don't know why, but I love writing belligerent sexual tension. FUNNIEST THING EVER!**

**Err, I can explain that M rating... eventually...**

**ALSO, Captain Christine McGowan. For those of you who have played Tradewinds/Tradewinds 2, I based my character off of her. Because the name sounds piratey and beautiful at the same time. There are some differences, but those will be explain. I JUST WANTED TO PAY HOMAGE 'CAUSE I LOVE THAT GAME DON'T HURT MEEEEEE~**

**OK, so I need help with some names for the rest of the ****_Sovereign_**** crew, savvy? I'd like them to be unique, but also sound like they fit in the era. Here are the ****_Dutchman_**** members I need matches for, so if you have an idea for one, it's welcome:**

**Finnegan; Morey; Old Haddy; Penrod; Piper; Quittance; Ratlin; the Twins; Wheelback; and Wyvern.**

**So! Anybody who gives me a match for any of them... err... they'll get virtual booty?**

**Maccus: Hehehehe... *reaches for Victoria's arse***

**Me: NOT THAT KIND OF BOOTY, YE SCALLYWAG! *chases them away* GO GET A CABIN, YE CORAL-BRAINED BILGE RATS!**

**Hope you guys like!**

* * *

_It's not your fault, I'm a bitch_

_I'm a monster - yes, I'm a beast_

_And I feast when I conquer_

_But I'm alone, on my throne_

_All these riches... I came this way_

_All this way, just to say (hey)_

_This time won't you save me?_

_This time won't you save me?_

_Baby, I can feel myself givin' up... givin' up..._

_This time won't you save me?_

_This time won't you save me?_

_Baby, I can feel myself givin' up... givin' up..._

_I'm givin' up, baby... yes..._

_I'm givin' up, baby..._

_~"Save Me", Nicki Minaj_

* * *

"Captain! She's tailin' us!"

That had been 31-year-old Christine McGowan's first warning that she ought to either shout at Mary to begin an assault with the cannons, or do it herself. But no, she had to be her stubborn self. Instead of listening to her frantic first mate, she pushed Rose aside of the helm and took hold of the wheel. She had a plan to confuse the ship - which apparently most of her crew thought to be the infamous _Flying Dutchman_ - by moving every which way. It wouldn't be easy, but maybe if she could give a bit more speed...

"_Fer God's sake, Captain, she's on our hull!_"

That was her second warning. She yelled at Mary to fire the cannons. Unfortunately, in the tension, the girl's hands must have been shaking something awful, because the shot missed horribly. After that Christine growled and, in the midst of steering, shrieked that her crew best get the anchors out of their bloomers before she scuppered them, which was an empty threat in and of itself.

Her second-and-one-half warning was a combination of two different noises. One was the sound of a ship being submerged into the water, and the other was Victoria screaming bloody murder: "_THE DEVIL SHIP'S TAKEN A DIVE!_"

"What!" Christine grew furious at the insult that, whatever ship this was, be it the _Flying Dutchman_ or the damned Royal Navy's smallest longboat, would draw itself out of the battle rather than fight the _Sovereign_ honorably. She released the helm, running back to the stern to see for herself and, admittedly, to provoke the vessel out of the water - if anyone aboard was still alive, that was. "Avast, you yella-bellied, plunderin' cowards! Ye 'ear me, get back 'ere 'n' fight like men er I'll be - _'ell!_"

The third and final warning she received was when she and her entire crew were pitched forward, tossed unceremoniously onto the deck. Added to it was Sage's rather tactless sentiment that, "We, er, we been stranded, Cap."

Christine groaned as she pushed herself up off the deck, getting to her feet. "'Elpful 's they come, Sage!" she snapped. "Truly!"

By this time everyone was used to their captain's sarcasm, and so Sage merely picked herself up, cracked her cat, and snickered. And all that before she amused herself walking round kicking the others and threatening them to get up or they'd face a final lashing, and the fiercest one yet, 'fore being swallowed by the _Dutchman_.

Christine was busy surveying over the side of the ship to see if she could figure out where the other ship was under the water, and why her captain had even done such a thing in the first place while her crew got their wits back about them. And of course, just as soon as they did, she was bombarded with cries and whimpers.

"We're all gonna die!" Aurelie was practically in tears, looking to make herself scarce and finally settling on hiding behind Eden.

"She's goin' ta recruit us!" Rose was holding fast to the helm, eyes darting every which way.

"No' if she can't find us! I say we ge' off 'n' hide on this bloody island!" Another crack of Sage's whip and the harsh tone to the voice confirmed the speaker of that suggestion.

"Shut all yer bloody traps!" Christine boomed as she turned around. "We ain't gonna die, no' while I'm captain, 'n' we're sure as bloody 'ell no' goin' ta turn tail 'n' flee like a buncha lily-livered _brats!_"

Hearing the suspicious sound of water moving, and not akin to the waves, she did however agree that the fact of being stranded was not good for them. She spun back around and gripped the bulwark, leaning over and peering into the water. She'd very nearly managed to balance herself by the stomach over the side before she drew back a little. "Mary," she commanded in a low voice. "Load a cannonball 'n' prepare to fire, savvy?"

Mary immediately rushed to do this, though her shaking hands were still a problem as she was slow in loading the cannon. "Sh-Shall I give it a light, Capt'n?"

Christine held up a hand, still staring into the sea. "No' quite yet. Wait till ye see the-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the damned gray ship rose up out of the water, and the _Sovereign'_s entire crew, captain included, was too paralyzed to do anything - let alone poor Mary light the fuse to open fire. She wasn't as near them as when she had been chasing them just moments ago, but as their ship was moving and everyone was trying to outrun and shoot at her, none of them had gotten a close look at her.

And she was _much_ bigger now than she'd looked when she was on them.

"Good God," Christine breathed, taking a few jerky steps backward in an effort to put as much distance between herself and the other ship as possible. "Mary?"

The cannon master had dropped the match she'd been waiting to use the instant the ship had loomed over them. "A-Aye, Cap?"

"Don't bother lightin'. We'll try a bit of, what's it... negotiation... 'fore we send gunfire."

"Tol' ye sh'was the _Flyin' Dutchman,_" Victoria grumbled, though it lacked her usual conviction. "Dinnae listen tae the firs' mate."

"We goin' on their ship?" Delaney whispered, though reluctant she was to speak to her captain without first having been spoken to.

"Nay. They can come aboard ours, if it really be import'nt." She rushed forward and leaned over the bulwark again, stamping her boots on the deck of her ship. "You 'ear me, ye band o' scurvy curs? Ye want an audience wit' me, ye best be just comin' _over!_ If ye don't, ye can just turn 'round wit' yer tails 'tween yer legs 'n leave me ship be!"

Not five seconds after her challenge had been issued and she'd stepped back, there was a great screeching sound and out of nowhere, they were surrounded.

Those who had suddenly appeared _seemed_ like men, but unless they spoke none of the other crew would have known for absolute certain. They all looked different - covered in barnacles and mussels and sea stars. (Of course, that wasn't to say that the women on the _Sovereign_ didn't feel like jumping on them the moment they saw them. They hadn't seen men in at least... six months, was it now? But they were ladies, even if they were pirate ladies, and they had decorum.)

And right in front of their own captain was a tall man who clearly commanded respect and authority... and fear. His beard was a mass of tentacles, all squirming and some curled. One hand snapped like a lobster's claw, and what at first some of the women assumed to be a peg leg was, upon closer inspection, was actually more of a crab than of wood. He wore a tricorn hat, which was, like the others' bodies, plastered with barnacles.

Slowly he took a few steps toward Christine, and a few of her crew squealed and huddled back together like a bunch of tarts, no thanks to their possible thoughts and theories. Not helping the situation were several of the other captain's crew, lunging at the girls, growling and snapping and laughing at the result.

"So then." Finally, after what felt like an eternity but in reality had only been a few seconds, the otherworldly captain had reached his utterly human counterpart. "Here I am, lass. An' is it my m'stake, er did ye say somethin' 'bout us runnin' off like scared little pups?"

Christine's face was ghost-white, but she recovered quickly. Even through her paleness, she managed to muster up her default independent, strong facial expression. "Aye, I believe I did..." She did a quick look of him, head to toe, then met his eyes. "_Captain._ Am I t' take it tha' ye be the fearsome devil o' the sea?" She snorted, crossing her arms and tossing her long ponytail back. "Davy Jones?"

"Aye. An' this be me loyal crew." He took a step closer. "We were hopin' tae run ye intae a rock er two, but ye cert'nly fouled up our plans. Though bein' grounded in th' sand be a suit'ble replacement, eh?"

His crew cackled, and one of them - resembling a shark - even reached for Victoria, or more specifically for her chest. A quick-drawn knife near his face and a vicious snarl fended him off rather smartly, though she earned a reciprocative growl. (It didn't appear either of them _cared._ For all Christine knew, that could be how they expressed interest in each other.)

"Explain your bus'ness!" Christine bellowed over everything else. She mustered all the courage in her and stepped up so that she was not a foot from the legendary captain. Her steely look didn't falter even as he brought his eyes down to meet hers.

"Aye, lass? We be here tae recruit." He scowled, breaking the gaze and taking a few steps around her to survey her crew. "But it be seemin' that ye don't have any men aboard."

Christine miraculously found some hidden bravery inside her, and her hand shot out to wrap about his - the one that wasn't a claw. "Now ye listen 'ere! Ain't no men on board 'cause ain't no men _on the crew!_ Me crew is all women, 'n' we be corsairs, savvy? I took 'em in me crew 'cause I knew ain't no _men_ would lis'en ta a female capt'n. 'N' me girls 'spect me all the more fer it. So if ye be lookin' fer a crew, ye found it."

She took satisfaction in the fact that it looked like the other captain didn't quite know what to say to that. "Well, lass..."

After a moment of silence from both sides, save for the hissing and odd dagger-dancing Victoria and that shark man were engaging in, the crack of a whip was heard. Christine looked back to see if it was Sage - being impatient as ever - but her bo'sun had her arms crossed 'neath her chest, simply twirling her cat about.

It was the bo'sun on the other crew, stepping forward, with the slick-cut and sinister features of a stonefish except for that mouth, which had clearly been stolen from some piranha. "I says we leave 'em all ta die," he spoke up, lips curling upward in a sadistic smirk which wouldn't be out of place on Sage's visage. "A crew o' women - make me laugh, ye wench! Ye'd all jus' get in the way 'n' lousin' up at ev'ry turn."

All of the women bristled at that comment, but they were granted retribution when another whip snapped at the other bo'sun's feet. It made him leap back, and all the ladies had a hearty chuckle, teasing as Sage got ever closer to the man. "_You,_" she grunted, "take it back righ' now, ye poxy bilge-rat. I'll have the crew drop anchor on yer _head_ an' see if it hurts _'cause we be just women._"

"Oh?" He flicked his cat, and his aim must have been spectacular because it wrapped itself round her waist. "Why don't we jus' see 'bout tha'..." He yanked the handle, and it brought her closer. "When ye been lashed so thoroughly ye can't move, eh?"

If one blinked, one would have missed the way Sage's cat returned the favor, snaking itself around his hips. A jerk of her wrist, and they was little distance now between them. "Why don't we see..." She made a fast move, so that now their noses were together. "_See_ who gets blood drawn from 'em firs'."

"Aye? Ye'd be blubberin' like a pup, little lass," he sneered, though there was some odd hint of lust shining in his eyes.

Sage snorted. "Care to stuff yer shillin's down yer throat 'n' _prove it?_" Her eyes narrowed, but that gleam was there. "_Lad?_"

The other bo'sun snickered. "Why, I'm gonna prove it an' then more, ye lovely, nasty little-"

"_Bo'sun!_" both captains shouted.

Sage snatched her whip back and turned sharply on her heel, blonde hair practically smacking the other bo'sun in the face. He barely held back a restrained roar, giving a lash to the deck.

Christine locked eyes with Davy, scowling at him and silently daring him to have the same idea as her a second time. She took a step closer to the legendary captain. "Now you see here, ye - ye _scalawag!_ I'll be keelhauled before I let ye take any of me crew, so ye can just-"

"_Take?_" He laughed. "Nae, Captain..."

She crossed her arms. "McGowan. Christine McGowan."

"Aye, Captain McGowan." He briefly glanced back to his own crew, shooting a warning look at the shark man who was currently inspecting Victoria's waist with his hands. The look he was given made him immediately let go, though he didn't look all too regretful of his actions. "I've jus' thought of a... prop'sition... I could make ye."

She took a glimpse at her crew as well; Aurelie was still hiding behind Eden, but she was staring over at a member of the other crew and blushing. When Christine looked, she saw a man covered in jellyfish, looking right back at Aurelie and smiling. Then she looked back at Davy. "Ye don't say? Well, unfortunately, Captain Jones, this ain't yer lucky day."

She twirled and made to walk off and bark orders at her crew to get this God-damned ship out of the sand if they didn't want a flogging, but before she got too far she felt something wet on her shoulder. She realized what it must be, but didn't let her shudder extend beyond her mind. "Now now, Miss McGowan-"

"_Captain_ McGowan," she corrected, irritated even further.

"Aye, Captain. Ye fergive me men, they ain't seen a bonny lass in so long. Not sayin' o' course they got any right tae be _touchin'_ 'stead o' _lookin'..._" He paused, probably giving the shark man and the other bo'sun another annoyed glimpse. "But I think we can come tae a deal, you 'n' me."

"Oh, I sorely doubt that." She reached up and resisted a repulsed shake as she pushed the tentacle off her shoulder. She faced him and looked right in his eyes. "You have stranded me ship, 'n' I got no bus'ness with a body what only wants ta prove 'e be better. Now, I have neither the desire nor the patience to deal with you _or_ yer men. Me 'n' me girls go' a ship to dig outta the sand, thanks to ye."

She spun back around, and her eye twitched after she saw her first mate . "_Victoria,_ fer the good Lord's sake, I'll tell ye once: ye get any closer ta the man, 'n' ye'll be snoggin' 'im! I know that's what ye're goin' for, but show some bloody decency!"

All at once, Davy was in front of her, and she stopped short, nearly running into him. "Let me ask ye somethin', Miss McGowan." He stepped closer, so that their faces were barely six inches apart. "Do ye fear death? Ye fear dyin'... bein' judged?"

He circled about her, and his tentacles touched her shoulder again. "Ev'rythin' ye've ever done... out there, 'n' the force of it bearin' down on ye... the uncertainty. Not knowin' whether ye'll be granted Fiddler's Green... er sent down to me Locker." He got even closer, and if he were to trip, well, that was what she'd just warned Victoria about, wasn't it? "Does that... scare you, Captain McGowan?"

Her breath caught in her chest, and she shook her head, eyes widening. He truly was the devil of the seas... how did he know all that about her? It was like he was looking straight into her soul, searching for things to torture her with. Trying to find her deepest and most vulnerable places. Places she could have sworn to God she'd buried and locked away long ago. Places nobody except one man had the key to. She put on a braver face and steeled herself. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because." His lips were near her ear now, and his voice echoed inside her head, even though he was whispering. "Captain McGowan, I can offer you and yer crew... an escape of sorts."

For some reason she didn't trust him, but she didn't want to stop listening. She supposed there was a certain way he must have gotten his crew, and she was experiencing it firsthand now. "What... kind of an escape, Captain Jones?"

He turned some, but not all the way round; they could still see each other's eyes. "Ain't 'nough room fer all o' ye on me ship wit' me crew, but... wha' if I said ye could be... like us?"

She scoffed. "Like _you?_ Hardly seem like a fair deal, 'n' in exchange fer wha' on our part?"

He faced her again. "Perhap I ain't bein' clear, Captain. If I grant you 'n' yer crew tae live ferever, tae never die 'n' be judged, all I expect in return is fer you to... assist in our bus'ness. We ain't never had a full crew 'n' a ship tae join us. Ain't never recruited women either."

She gave him a hard look. "Am I ta understand ye're usin' us as a _trial?_ To see wha'll happen if we join ye?"

There was a mischievous glint in his eye, but it was far from playful or friendly. "Aye. Wha' d'ye say?"

"I say..." She bit her lip, stealing a glimpse at her crew. "I say you're absolutely stark raving _daft,_ but as it appears, we're in need of assistance."

"Is tha' so?"

"Since ye ran me ship inta a beach," she couldn't hold herself back from squeezing those words out through gritted teeth, "it would seem so. Don't get cocky 's anythin', but we only join if yer boys repair the damage all of ye did."

He stared at her for a moment, looking almost all over her face, probably for any sign that she might be lying. "... Very well then. Seems tae be gettin' late, so if ye don't wanna be stayin' out on the isle and freezin' tae death... ye can stay on me ship, only till these swill-heads get yers repaired taemorrow."

She grumbled as she followed him over to where the Jacob's Ladder was stowed. "Aye, well, ye better have yer anchor dropped, you..." She began pulling out the rope ladder, then looked back at her crew. "Girls! If anybody got a problem wit' the new arrangement, ye can break yer loyalty and I'll have Sage scupper ye." That time it wasn't an empty threat.

Not a peep from them.

She tossed the ladder over the bulwarks. "Tha's wha' I was thinkin'."

* * *

**Yay! Uh, well, it seems Davy and Christine don't exactly see eye to eye. I tried to write them as more... irritated with each other. I think maybe Christine is irritated and Davy kind of wants to toy with her. I'll do better next chapter, I swear!**

**Also, next chapter... the crews get a little one-on-one time! Should be fun. Of course I can't do EVERYBODY, but I'll try to do little sections and get as many little glimpses into the many budding relationships as I can without making it too long.**

**... Jimmy and Sage... Maccus and Victoria... XD Naughty little imps they all are!**

**LOL. So, thanks for reading! If you have any ideas or praise, fill out de little form at the bottom and drop me a line!**

**... Ahaha, get it? Line? Ocean? Fishing?**

**Ah... forget it...**

**Thanks for putting up with me~ ^^**


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